In Unexpected Change Trust the Lord

Photo by Ross Findon on Unsplash

It’s cliche to say but we all know it’s true: change is hard. Change is disruptive and often messy; even when we welcome change, the reality of altering our rituals and responses to people, places, and things is uncomfortable, at least it is for me. And deeper than the discomfort of practical change, is the disorientation that is born from the expectation that decisions we make will bear specific results, but then something entirely other than what we anticipate happens. 

For instance, I can’t imagine

that the Israelites expected they would wander for 40 years in the desert. I doubt Moses thought his time leading the Israelites would end with him not entering the promised land. What are the odds Mary expected that she would have anything but an absolutely normal marriage to Joseph? And we know the disciples spent most of their time with Jesus completely befuddled by, well, basically everything he did. 

I can’t decide if I think this seemingly unpredictable upending of expectation is God’s preferred way of revealing heavenly logic, or if it’s possible for us poor humans to get out of our own way and learn to anticipate the Father’s intentions. Maybe it’s both or maybe it’s something I haven’t yet put my finger on. 

I try my best to practice obedience in faith to Christ without getting ahead of myself. I find myself repeating Proverbs 3: 5-6 frequently these days, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.” (NIV)  After 30-plus years of following Jesus, I’ve learned things simply aren’t always what they seem in his hands. According to God’s way of doing things, sheepherders lead nations, adulteresses become evangelists and crosses lead to life. What seems unlikely, and even worse is used to purify us and reveal His goodness.

Perhaps you can relate to the experience of feeling led by the Lord in ways you didn’t anticipate. Maybe he’s leading you toward something challenging and beyond your capacity to manage, or away from something good and you feel confused and suddenly without direction. Many of us in the Methodist tribe are watching our churches fracture and it is difficult to imagine how the Lord will bring healing and goodness out of the wreckage.

But we know that he can, and he will.  “I will say of the Lord, “He is my refuge and my fortress,

my God, in whom I trust.” (Psalm 91. NIV)